


The Crystalling

by Chash



Series: Pony Regrets [3]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Babies, Gen, my little pony - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-12
Updated: 2016-05-12
Packaged: 2018-06-07 22:26:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6827704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chash/pseuds/Chash
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bellamy did not intend for his students to find out he played My Little Pony. But once they do, it's actually kind of fun.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Crystalling

**Author's Note:**

  * For [brightcopperpenny](https://archiveofourown.org/users/brightcopperpenny/gifts), [sirrogue](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sirrogue/gifts).



> Did you know Rogue and Caitlin had a kid? They sure did! And Rogue wanted a fic about Bellamy holding a child while wearing a pony shirt, which did seem like the kind of thing I could make happen. 
> 
> So yeah! Congrats, guys :D

Bellamy never planned on his students finding out about the My Little Pony thing.

Which is, really, not _that much_ of a thing. He's not a brony or anything. Okay, yes, he has watched all of the show, and he has all the cards, and, admittedly, he has some plushies and stuff. But he can stop any time he wants to. And he's honestly not that invested in any of it. It's just fun. And the plushies are cute. And people keep buying them for him, or Clarke, and it's just--a part of his life.

Still. He does not really want to share it with his students. He keeps up a pretty decent school/life divide, and he likes it like that. His students know he has a sister and some number of friends, but his hobbies and relationship status remain shrouded in mystery. Which he likes.

The problem is, he still goes to weekly My Little Pony tournaments at a game store, and game stores are one of those places where teenagers tend to go. More than regular grownups, even. It's probably sheer, stupid luck that it's taken this long for one of them to see him there.

It's winter break, and two of his juniors come in just as he's saying, "Okay, at the start of your score phase, I'll play Prince Rutherford, and he'll scare Prim Hemline, so she loses Dressed Up and you're not confronting," which is the kind of phrase that no one can ever unhear. 

"Mr. Blake?" asks Oliver Jacobs, sounding either confused or impressed. Maybe both.

Clarke, sitting across from him, raises her eyebrows, and he throws her a quick scowl. Just on general principle. He loves her, but this is totally her fault. And then he turns and gives the kids a smile. Heather Freeman is with Oliver, which is probably a best-case scenario here. He likes both of them. They're smart and nerdy and really into Hamilton; of course he likes them. "Hey guys. How's your break?"

"Um, pretty good," says Heather. "What are you doing?"

"We are--playing the My Little Pony game," he says, because it would be incredibly difficult to come up with anything else he was plausibly doing, at this point. "It's pretty fun. My sister plays, so she got me into it."

Clarke chokes on a snort, and he kicks her lightly under the table.

"Oh, yeah, I've heard of that," says Heather, sounding interested. "One of my friends online plays, and I bought the starter deck, but I never had anyone to play with so it's just buried in my room somewhere."

"Yeah, uh--we have a weekly tournament, actually," he says. "So if you wanted to learn--"

"Wouldn't that be weird for you?" she asks.

"That ship has sailed," he says, dry. "Seriously, if you want to learn to play, you should. It's fun, and we can always use more people here." He glances at Clarke; the ship really has sailed, so he might as well go all in. "We can teach you now, if you want."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Oliver, you want to learn too?"

He looks unabashedly enthusiastic. "Sure!"

"Okay, go sit next to Clarke." He pauses and adds, "And that's my girlfriend, Clarke. She's the current My Little Pony Continental Champion."

He's not sure if their reaction is based on the fact that he has a girlfriend or the fact that his girlfriend is really good at My Little Pony; it could go either way. Honestly, it doesn't really matter. He's going to have a weird couple of days at school, and then it will mostly die down. It's fine.

"Nice to meet you guys," says Clarke.

"Continental Champion?" asks Oliver, sitting down as instructed.

"I beat Bellamy in the top sixteen and he didn't even break up with me," she says. "These decks should be fine, right?" she adds, to Bellamy.

They were drafting, so Bellamy's deck is garbage, but also pretty straightforward. "Yeah, should be." He slides Rainbow Dash over to Heather. "Okay, so, this is your mane."

As expected, after lunch on Monday, someone has drawn a really surprisingly detailed picture of Nightmare Moon on his whiteboard. Knowing what he does about his students' artistic abilities, he's pretty sure it was Heather's friend Nicole, which means that Heather told her, and everyone is going to know in no time. So he just takes a picture of the drawing, sends it to Clarke and Octavia, and doesn't bother erasing it, because it's honestly really cool, and he tries to encourage art.

And, weirdly, he doesn't actually care that much, once it's out there. A couple kids ask if he really likes _My Little Pony_ , in vaguely horrified tones, and he can say, truthfully, that he doesn't watch the show religiously, but he plays the card game with his friends and enjoys it. A couple of his students bring him stuffed ponies as presents, he puts them in a place of honor on his desk, and that's basically the end of it. It's one of those things that they know about him, and he knows they know, and it's slightly awkward, but also funny, to have them asking for updates on how the game is going and if there are any big tournaments and if his girlfriend is still the best pony player ever.

Honestly, he doesn't know what he was so worried about.

It's Heather who asks, "What do we get if the class gets higher than a three average on the practice AP exam next week?" in April.

"A good grade, the knowledge you'll probably do okay on the actual test, and the satisfaction of a job well done," he says. "Seriously, you guys get how school works, right? Do well, get As. I can't be the first one to tell you this."

"I think," she goes on, "if we get better than a three average as a class, you should wear a pony shirt. On the day of the actual AP exam. For luck."

"Who says I even have a pony shirt?" he asks, and everyone starts laughing. It was, admittedly, a stupid tactic to take, because everyone knows he has a pony shirt. He so obviously has many pony shirts. He doesn't even buy them himself. They just happen to him. "Okay, fine. I have a pony shirt. Is that really going to be a significant motivating factor for you guys? Are you going to study harder if you can force me to wear a weird t-shirt?"

Of course, there is a chorus of agreement.

"Fine," he says. "But not just you guys. My other section too. If both your classes get an average of three or higher, I'll wear a My Little Pony shirt on exam day. So study hard, and you aren't allowed to take pictures of me if it works. Memories last forever."

It's impossible to tell if the t-shirt bet is actually what makes the difference, but the average is 3.2, and Bellamy wears his Bulk Biceps shirt on exam day, because it's definitely encouraging, right? Everyone needs a giant, terrifying pony who works out to much to tell them they can achieve their dreams or whatever.

The students love it, and so, of course, it becomes a tradition, just like that. His kids tell their younger friends, and the next year, Nick Marshall asks, "So, we have to get a class average above three, right? Both sections?"

"Just if you want to do well," Bellamy says, because he'd honestly forgotten about the t-shirt thing.

"No, if we want you to wear the pony shirt."

He blinks. "Do you guys want that?" And then, "Never mind, stupid question. Yeah, same deal. Both sections get a class average of above three, I'll wear a pony shirt for the exam."

It's one of those fun, harmless things that the students get really into, and they actually arrange special cram sessions and help each other study to make sure they won't deprive the school of him in a pony shirt. So he embraces it, and the next year, he proactively addresses it himself.

"As usual, guys, if you want me to wear a My Little Pony shirt on the day of the exam, you and the other section both have to get higher than a three average on your practice exams next week."

Alison Huang raises her hand. "How many do you have?"

"Be more specific."

"How many pony shirts?"

"Uh, I don't know," he lies. He has five. "Why?"

"Can we vote on which one you wear?"

"Only if you get higher than a 3.5 average. Otherwise I pick."

They get a 3.3, and Bellamy wears the (pony) Octavia shirt Clarke got him for his birthday.

The next year, he almost forgets again, but for completely legitimate reasons: his wife is pregnant, and he's having enough trouble remembering his own name, let alone that he has an ongoing bet with his students about pony shirts. Of course, they remind him, and they get a class average of 3.48, which he says is close enough to 3.5 that they can vote on his shirt.

"It's the baby thing," he tells them. "I'm getting soft. Hormones are contagious. Never have children."

Which is how he ends up at the hospital on the day of the AP US History exam wearing a t-shirt with all the main characters of My Little Pony on it while his wife is in labor.

"This isn't how I imagined this," he admits.

"Really? This is exactly what I was thinking. Well, okay, I thought you'd be wearing the Bulk Biceps shirt. But other than that." Her hand is tight in his. "Sorry about the exam."

"You aren't seriously apologizing to me for taking me out of school because you went into labor two days early, are you?" he asks. "During labor?"

"I'm on a lot of drugs right now. I'm not responsible for what I'm saying."

He leans in to kiss her forehead. "I promise any time you want to have this child and any future children is fine with me. There's no bad time to have to my kids."

"Don't talk about future children while I'm giving birth. I don't care how many drugs I'm on, I will punch you in the dick."

He laughs. "I can't wait to tell this kid all about its birth. I was wearing a pony shirt because of an ongoing bet with my AP kids. You threatened to punch me in the dick. It's just getting better and better."

Clarke laughs. "Precious memories."

He squeezes her hand a little, can't help a stupid grin. "The best."

He breaks his _no photos on AP day_ rule, because he's in the hospital, holding his daughter, and that's the kind of thing he wants ten billion pictures of, so he can show off to the whole world. He had a sub plan already in place so he could take a few weeks off when the baby came, but a week after, once he feels a little less like he's actively and constantly dying from sleep deprivation and euphoria, he at least stops by to check how the test went, say hi, and show off his many, many baby pictures.

He also puts a print-out the first one, of him holding Selena in the shirt his kids picked out for him, up on the white board, in a place of prominence, and when he gets back for the last week of school, he finds it's surrounded by hearts, congratulations, well wishes, and drawings of ponies.

He doesn't erase any of that for the rest of the year either. He doesn't really need to teach anyway; APs are done, and his kids are definitely the best.


End file.
